


One More or One Less

by Piripulix300



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz, Be More Chill - Ned Vizinni
Genre: AU, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Failed smut, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Smut, Tattoo, ignorance, pacman tattoo, sorry I'm bad at this, soulmate, soulmate tattoo au, soulmate!AU, tattoo!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-05-24 03:41:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14946915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piripulix300/pseuds/Piripulix300
Summary: Jeremy and Michael share the same tattoo, a yellow Pacman on the left arm. Michael is very proud of it, but Jeremy wants more. He wants to know what Christine's tattoo's like, at the expense of his friendship with Michael. Left behind, the yellow tattoo slowly fades...-Soulmate Tattoo!Au where you get a tattoo when you build a relation, and you lose a tattoo when you lose this relation...





	1. Got a Pac-man tattoo

**Author's Note:**

> I kinda love this whole Optic Nerve Blocking thing so bear with this angst please.

He had just started school when he got his first tattoo. Well, technically it was not his first tattoo, it was his third one. But nobody ever counted their parent's tattoo as firsts so, yeah, Michael was his first tattoo. When he came back from school that day, he had on his left arm a colorful Pacman tattoo that he proudly showed to his parents. They were really happy for him, and they helped fuel the newborn friendship by inviting Michael over and letting Jeremy go to his house whenever.

Yet, unlike the other kids at school, growing up did not mean getting more tattoos for them. Michael stayed his one and only. He was too socially aware of his condition of "loser" to try and make new friends. When he finally got old enough to try to open up, everybody was already in groups and making fun of their geeky style. Didn't matter. It's not like he couldn't live with only one friend.

But as time passed, he realised he couldn't. He wanted recognition. He wanted popularity. He wanted Christine! And guess what? That's just what the Squip gave him.

 

* * *

 

Jeremy took the pill and squinted his eyes, expecting some kind of pain. When nothing came, he opened them slowly, like a frightened kitten opening its eyes to the world for the first time.  
Michael was looking at him from across the table. His smile was both amused and concerned.

“So? What's it like?”

“Minty?” Jeremy paused for a moment, then slouched on the table. “No wait, I think I know. It's "total scam" flavor...”

Michael laughed, said something stupid and slurped on his soda. He had his bottle of Crystal Pepsi in one hand and his other arm was thrown over the chair back. He was wearing his red hoodie today as well, sleeves rolled up to the elbow because it was kinda hot outside. Jeremy looked at Michael's Pacman tattoo for a moment. He wondered if he would ever get more than three tattoos in his life. He didn't want to stay stuck with only a few tattoos, because the less tattoo you had, the less respect you got. Although it wasn't as bad as being tattooless. No one ever knew what happened to those without any tattoo. Wasn't there some kind of organizations for them? Did they die? What a horrible thought, to have nobody to care for your existence. He didn't want that. He wanted to be like the other guys in school, with tons of tattoos all over their body, and tons of friend by their side. It seems like he'd never get that, though.

Suddenly, pain erupted. His head pounced like it wanted to kill him. He felt like razor blades were slowly cutting his brain out. The only things that he could register were that he had started screaming and that someone's hand was on his back.

“What's going on? Jeremy? Are you ok?”

Michael's word melted in the puddle of chaos that was his brain right now. There was so much sound everywhere that Jeremy couldn't focus on anything. Suddenly, a robotic voice popped up in his head.

_[Calibration in process. Please excuse some mild discomfort._

_Program booting. Accessing limbic system: Success]_

A jolt of electricity. Jeremy twitched in his chair. There was more chatter but he didn't hear them. The pain calmed down, but it was still present and soaring.

_[...Accessing spinal cord: Success Accessing memories: Success...]_

His heartache slowly faded to leave only a dull discomfort in his brain. The robotic voice that spoke to him became more and more distinguishable.

_[Calibration complete._

_Jeremy Heere, welcome to your new Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor, your Squip]._

Jeremy sat there breathless. Did it work? He slowly got his grip back on reality. Michael was practically panicking by now. He was up and glued to Jeremy, with his hand around his friend's back and the other one in front of him, uncertain of what to do. Jeremy had to admit that the contact was comforting. Several people were watching them. He himself was hunched over the table with his head squeezed between his hands. He was still too shaken to talk, but he looked at Michael in the eyes and the connection seemed to calm his friend. Michael made a face between empathy and relief, but his frame relaxed a bit. The voice -Keanu Reeves's voice?- got sweeter, more calm and composed.

_[What is your objective?]_

“M-ma wha...?” Jeremy stammered while talking. It wasn't usually too bad but had gotten worse with the painful experience.

His mouth was too pasty to talk correctly. Michael looked at him weirdly, said a few more words, but Jeremy couldn't listen to him and the Squip at the same time.

_[I advise you to not talk out loud. I am in your brain, I can understand your thoughts.]_

“Ok...” Jeremy said.

Michael's hand came to support him, and Jeremy let himself be led through the mall. Walking by his friend's side calmed him down, at least until the voice came back:

_[In your head, please.]_

_O... Okay._

_[Better. Now. What is your objective?]_

_Objective?_

_[Why did you buy me for?]_

Jeremy closed his eyes for a second. He stopped walking. Immediately, he felt Michael looming over him in distress. There was too much going on.

 _[I understand your confusion.]_ The Squip said. _[I will put myself on standby mode until you are ready to give me instructions. Get home so we can talk freely.]_

This Squip was too reactive. Jeremy's world was still spinning. Thankfully, Michael was here with him. He would have made a fool of himself otherwise, and wouldn't that be shameful. Michael took him to his car. With the Squip gone, Jeremy could concentrate on the current situation and he found his ability to talk. He reassured Michael that he was fine, that it was only the Squip booting up. The car ride was eerily silent since Jeremy's head was killing him. At his side, Michael was squinting in anticipation, unsure of what to say. Upon arriving home, Mr Heere opened the door to greet Michael, who explained to him the situation. Jeremy left them both to go と his bedroom to crash on his bed. Immediately after, an electronic Keanu -it was definitely him- booted up at his side. It repeated his request for the third time in the exact same tone.

_[What is your objective?]_

The robotic voice was strangely human, and it frightened Jeremy a bit. Yet he remembered why he had bought the Squip in the first place, and found some energy to answer it:

“I want to get my soulmate's tattoo, I want Christine's!”

_[ERROR68(0x44)TOO_MANY_MANES. Reprise c:\Windows\system32... What is your objective? Please state clearly what your goal is.]_

The error message was resonating in his aching head, and Jeremy winced. The Squip's voice had gone robotic for a moment -well, more robotic than it already was- and the abrupt change had surprised him. However, Jeremy had enough composure to mutter the first thing that came to his mind.

“I just want Christine to fall in love with me...”

_[Registered. You will learn to state directly what you want soon, for it may cause miscomprehensions. I will set your objective on: Getting Christine.]_

Jeremy blushed. Although the Squip was already in his head, it was still embarrassing to have his crush exposed.

“Right, so... How do we do this?”

_[I am a supercomputer set to achieve the goal you give me by taking care of any obstacles you may encounter. Thank you for buying Squip™. Products will not be refunded, returned or exchanged.]_

“Hum... You're welcome?”

_[Brace yourself.]_

Jeremy yelled suddenly. Something was burning his wrist. When he looked at it, he had small blue lines rising from his wrist.

“What the hell?!”

 _[This is your first tattoo, Jeremiah. The one that concludes our relation. Bienvenue dans la famille._ * _]_

“Oh? Right. So... What now?”

Jeremy gulped. The silence stretched as Keanu's figure looked in the distance, probably analyzing things. When it finally looked at him, Jeremy got nervous. What was it gonna say? What was the first step to becoming popular? Should he start working on his speech first? Or... Or maybe his diet? Keanu was scanning him up and down with a dismayed expression on his face. So what was it? What was the secret behind acceptance and popularity? 

_[You'll need new clothes.]_

 

* * *

 

Walking up the school's corridors was usually one of Jeremy's worst nightmare. You had to avoid the other's gaze while still looking in front of you -staring at the floor was a no go-. You had to choose your outfit carefully and not wear the same shirt for too long. There were the bullies and the girls to avoid which composed 90% of the school's community.

Now though, with the Squip helping him, it was worse.

Michael was fucking nowhere to be seen and-

_[Forget Michael.]_

… And Keanu was slowly but surely getting on his nerves. “Don't slouch”, “Walk confidently”, “Don't turn right”, “Say hi”. How could he say hi to a hot girl? He could barely say hi to Michael without stuttering. Thank heaven, the Squip got the idea quite instantly. It made him talk to the boys first. And not just anyone: Rich and Jake. They were... kinda nice actually? It was hard to say. Jake seemed genuine but if it wasn't for the Squip, he would still be nothing his eyes.

That's why getting Rich's tattoo was such a surprise. Jeremy always thought that their friendship was only Squip related. Apparently not.

They were just leaving the bar. Rich was kinda drunk, contrary to Jeremy who had refrained from drinking too much.

 His Squip was not here when it happened, and Jeremy screeched like a girl when he felt the burning sensation right above his stomach. Rich didn't laugh at his squeal so everything was fine. The pain was worth it, that tattoo was so badass! It was a flaming playing card, a black and white ace of heart. Jeremy didn't know what it was symbolizing and he didn't care. He had a new tattoo!

_[Good work, Jeremy. You befriended Richard. But that's only the beginning. You'll get more.]_

_I'll get more tattoos?_ Jeremy was excited. Getting a tattoo was the proof that the other person was liking you back. Unknowingly, Rich legitly approved of him as a friend! That was totally awesome jawsome!

_[Awesome jawsome? Chill down. We still got work.]_

He got the girl's tattoo shortly after. Jena, Brooke and Chloe, three popular girls that previously made fun of him were his friends now. He got them all at once. They were hanging in the courtyard was Chloe made a joke that had everyone laugh. Genuinely. Jeremy was so proud of himself. Getting a girl's tattoo? Good. Getting three at once? Fucking _brutal_. Jena's tattoo was an eye, Brooke's was a key -but why was it under his nipple?- and Chloe's was a crown.

The Squip maintained that he was getting closer to Christine's, and the thought excited him to no end. What he didn't expect was getting Jake's tattoo. Jake was one of the most popular guys at school. Jeremy never even dreamed of being acknowledged by him. From that day forward, he wore exclusively open shirts to show the shooting star that was matching Jake's.

 

He was so obsessed with this race for popularity that he didn't notice that one of his tattoos was slowly disappearing. He could boast about Jake's tattoo all he wanted, his blank forearm was lacking something. Something important that he barely had time to think about. He had a popularity to gain.

 

* * *

 

Some days later, Rich managed to scare him with a simple question.

“Do you know what happens when you get your soulmate tattoo?”

Jeremy almost choked on his drink. Soulmate tattoo? Why did Rich think asking _him_ would help? He was the last person on earth to ask for. He just knew that tattoo meant friendship. And even that was a vague concept in his head, although Rich seemed really concerned about asking his opinion.

“Soulmate?” Jeremy croaked.

“Yeah. D'you know how to recognize it?”

_Squip? A little help?_

_[Tell him he'll know when he'll see it.]_

“You'll recognize it once you'll see it.”

“And that's it?” Rich sounded lost. Jeremy was aching to help but he didn't know himself. Now he was curious though. Rich never looked so thoughtful before.

“Why d'you ask? You think you got one?”

“...My Squip told me that a colorful tattoo meant being soulmates? I don't know. J... He saw it and he didn't look fazed by it, maybe he doesn't want this.”

Jeremy had so many questions. Like, it was a guy? Since when did he know? Did he love him? Since when does the great Richard Goranski have feelings for someone else than himself? Still, Jeremy could hear the hidden agony in Rich's statement and put his curiosity aside for the sake of his friend.

“I'm sure it's fine, Rich. Whoever it is, he might be just as stressed as you are.”

Rich smiled and thanked him. On his finger was a very small, blue and pink Saturn. Jeremy swore he saw it somewhere else but he couldn't remember where.


	2. Where's my Pacman tattoo?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy gets Christine's tattoo and meets Michael.

Then it happened. They were finishing the dressed rehearsal and Christine and Jeremy were chatting joyfully. They were obvious to the world, too focused and too excited by their conversation to notice anything else. Jeremy wasn't even alarmed by his aching shoulder. Christine was scratching her shoulder absent-mindedly. She yipped suddenly, took off her vest and stared at her shoulder. There was a tattoo there, and Christine looked at it with surprise.

“Oh my god, Jeremy, I'm so happy! This tattoo is the best!”

“W-what?”

Jeremy took a look at Christine's tattoo. It was a pair of theatre masks, with a small sentence underneath it "All the world's a stage". It was quite a big tattoo, compared to the ones Jeremy had, and he felt a bit jealous toward whoever shared this one with her. Keanu started talking, and even though it is statistically impossible for a machine to feel emotions, Jeremy was 100% sure that his Squip was slowly getting infuriated by his childish jealousy.

_[Concentrate. It seems like Christine never saw this tattoo. Which means she just got it. Which means...]_

“It is our tattoo!” Jeremy yelled.

_[Exactly.]_

Jeremy fumbled with his jacket to expose his aching shoulder. His newborn tattoo ached, but he had been too engrossed in his conversation with Christine to notice it until now. Now that he was realizing it though, there was no stopping him. He even ignored the Squip's warnings.

_[No, Jeremy! Don't take off your...]_

The Squip cut itself off with an annoyed sight when Jeremy took off his clothe and saw his tattoo.

_[...your jacket.]_

It was obviously the same one as Christine: a pair of theatre masks and a small sentence about the world right on his shoulder. Jeremy beamed.

“Christine..!”

He was exploding with emotions and yet, at a loss for words. His mind was filled with the same repeating phrase, and he saw the Squip actually cover his ears. _Christine's tattoo, Christine's tattoo, he had Christine's tattoo!_

“Oh wow, that's fantastic,” Christine said. “I kinda like you, actually. You're a really good person, ya know? There are not a lot of people as excited as you about theatre.”

Jeremy was mesmerized. _Christine's tattoo_. He got closer to her. _Christine's tattoo_. He leaned in. _Christine's tattoo!_ The moment was magical. They were in their rehearsal clothes. Christine gleamed like a princess. The timing was perfect. She was rambling, but Jeremy had eyes for her lips only.

_[Wait Jeremy, don't-]_

Too late. He was already bowing down. Christine raised her head to see what was happening, and Jeremy's lips crashed on hers. Her eyes widened. To Jeremy, the world became pink and bright and fabulous. Everything was fantastic, except for the part where Christine pushed him hard enough to make him lose his balance. His shiny world became real again. Dreadfully real.

“What the...? Jeremy? Why did you do that?”

_I've been wanting to do that for so long._

_[You talked in your head, Jeremy.]_

“I did not...”

_[This is horrifyingly embarrassing.]_

“Yes, you did!” Squawked Christine. “Why did you do that?”

“It is... Our soulmate tattoo?”

Thankfully, Christine's frown turned into a mock upon hearing that. She chuckled and punched him in the shoulder.

“You dummy. Is it because of the tattoo? We're not soulmates!”

_Are we not? Are we friends? We should not be friends._

_[And how would this be?]_

_I told you I wanted my soulmate tattoo to be Christine's!_

_[You did not. Because this is not something you can choose. You set me on: Getting Christine. Remember?]_

“You already have your soulmate tattoo, silly,” Christine said, putting a finger on his forearm. “See? You've got it here! You're so lucky! I wish I had found mine already.”

_Do I have a soulmate tattoo?_

Jeremy looked down on his arm, but there was nothing here. At least, nothing he could see. His mind was racing once again. He couldn't remember if there had been something on his arm before. He knew there was something important he had forgotten. Why couldn't he remember?

_Squip! Why can't I remember? Why did you hide my soulmate tattoo?_

_[To facilitate your objective, I had to take the matter into my own hands. You wanted Christine above your soulmate, so I erased it from your existence.]_

Jeremy shook hard. Now that he knew, the cold feeling of rejection was washing over him.

_That's so cruel! You can't do that to people! Sh... Show me._

_[Excuse me?]_

_I want you to SHOW ME!_

Keanu didn't answer. It let his eyes fall to the floor, looking thoughtful. Jeremy's arm suddenly itched again, only this time on his forearm. His gaze was on the tattoo in a millisecond.

A Pacman tattoo. A faint, ghost-looking Pacman tattoo.

“Jeremy, are you okay?” Christine asked. “I know it must be hard losing your soulmate.”

Christine suddenly wore a pained expression on her face. She squeezed his hands and looked at him in the eye. Jeremy's heart froze. Michael was...?

“What d'you mean 'l-loosing'?”

“Well... I can't see any other reason why it would be so pale.”

“It can't be...”

Jeremy was too shocked to move, but his mind was racing. The tattoo had not disappeared yet. That meant Michael was still counting on him... That he hadn't given up! He had to go to his house.

“I have to go.”

“Run for it, boy,”

In a second, Jeremy was racing with Christine's genuine laugh accompanying each of his steps. He was looking like a madman, running around like that, but he didn't care. He had to get moving. He had no idea how long Michael would support what was left of their friendship. He crashed into his friend's classroom, and the teacher gave him owl eyes. He stayed panting on the door, looking for his red-hoodied friend, but he couldn't find him. With a curse, he turned around and headed outside. Michael was obviously either at the Seven Eleven or at home.

_[I have the regret to inform you that your objective of 'getting Christine' has dropped to 0.5% chance of success]_

_Shut down._

Keanu stopped speaking and Jeremy was left alone with his pounding heart and the slamming of his heels on the pavement.

 

* * *

 

Jeremy banged open Michael's door. Michael jumped so high it almost made Jeremy flinch. The plate Michael carried crashed on the floor in a deafening crash.

[ _I can’t believe we’re here._ _After all that we worked for._ ]

“JESUS, FUCK!” Michael yelled, still shocked by the bang of the door. “Don't! Just... Don't do that!”

“Michael!” Jeremy's tone was filled with relief. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it was certainly not Michael trying to make pancakes in the kitchen.

[ _Key work: Trying_ ]

_Would you shut up?_

Michael saw that the racket was only Jeremy being crazy, and bent down to pick up the broken shards. He said nothing about Jeremy's sudden appearance, but he was leaving side glances at him now and then, clearly unsure of what to do.

“Michael, how are you?” Jeremy asked.

Michael raised an eyebrow. Wow. Good call, Jeremy.

“How... Am I?” Michael left a blank in the conversation. Then he just said “gnarly” before going back to his stove.

“Mmmm... Michael, there are some things we should… talk about.”

“I’m not your wife Jer. You can’t just come up one day and tell me we have to talk.”

Jeremy softened at the joke. That was Michael all right. He tried his best to convey his feelings to his next question, so that Michael would cooperate with him, but Michael stayed as stubborn as ever.

“Hey, I know I'm not like… your friend anymore but can you talk to me? Or at least listen to me? I’d like to say something important.”

“Damn right you aren't my friend anymore.”

The red hoodie was turned back from him and Jeremy could see Michael’s tense form falter. He took a look at his arm. His tattoo was white, devoid of color and was starting to fade. He had to talk to Michael as soon as possible.

“Listen, I haven’t been a good friend recently. In fact, I suppose I’m the last person you want to see. And if I were you I’d react the same. But I didn’t want to hurt you! I didn’t know about…”

Michael slowly turned to him. He was listening at least.

“I-I…Did you know about our tattoo?”

“Which tattoo?” Michael asked.

Michaels’s anger was back at full force. He was waiting for something from Jeremy but the tall boy couldn’t guess what. Jeremy’s arm was stinging once more. He resisted the urge to look at it because it would only make this worse for him.

“Oh no, please, keep going,” Michael said sarcastically. “Tell me more about the tattoo you forgot all about… And the best friend you left behind in favor of some... dumb popularity contest. I’m dying to know.”

Jeremy opened his mouth to answer but he couldn’t get any words out. He had no logical explanation. Michael took this as his cue to continue.

“You know how many tattoos I have left Jer? Two. That’s my mother’s and the girl from Seven Eleven. But it doesn’t matter because my _Soulmate tattoo_ got _fucking ignored_!”

He banged his hand on the counter and the dishes jumped.

“I didn’t know,” Jeremy blurted out. “I thought it was just…”

_[A colored tattoo?]_ The Squip laughed.

“A colored tattoo? That’s what you were gonna say?” Michael completed.

Fuck, too much people in this room knew him by heart.

“Come on Jer, you’re not that stupid. What the fuck did you think our tattoo was?”

“I… I’m. I’m sorry.”

Michael opened his eyes wide, suddenly less edgy. There was a spark of decisiveness in them. His whole figure shook like he was finally out of his angered trance. Jeremy’s hand hesitated for a moment, wanting to touch his friend, but he decided against it. He didn’t want to move and risk everything. The Pacman tattoo on Michael's arm was faded, bleached out. It made Jeremy sick. He had done this; he had bleached out their tattoo in only two weeks.

“I know you’re a good person Michael and I know you will give me a second chance, even if I don’t deserve one. Please.”

He had no idea what to say to make the situation better. He had just let himself pour his heart out without any idea if that would help. Apologizing was the only thing he could do right now. Yet Michael could still reject him, nothing was keeping him from doing so. And frankly, Jeremy would not be angry at him for deciding that he was better than this.

“Jeremy…” Michael’s voice was appeased now. Jeremy had forgotten how good it was to have Michael talking at him calmly. “You…”

Michael closed his eyes. He couldn’t finish his phrase before taking in a wheezing breath and losing his train of thoughts. Jeremy’s first reflex was to go and hug him. Michael tensed but made no move to escape, so Jeremy stayed. It felt like years since he had last been this close to Michael.

They hugged for a while. Jeremy was not moving an inch, too afraid to do so. Michael was trying not to give in and get too embarrassed. Finally, he inhaled quickly, then cracked an eye open. He moved away from Jeremy, as he wanted to face him.

“That’s… I just wanted to hear that.” Michael admitted.

“…What?”

“That you’re sorry.”

He gave Jeremy a tired, worn-out look, and failed at anything else. Jeremy understood. His own thoughts gave him no respite.

“I'm sorry I left you. I wanted the Squip to help me getting Christine but I didn’t know it would mean leaving you behind. I didn't want this to happen! Don't leave. Please, you can't leave...”

“What about Christine?”

“She’s not my soulmate. I can live with being just friend with her. But I’m not gonna abandon you.”

 

His friend sighed and bumped his head on Jeremy’s torso again. They fell silent. Jeremy took the opportunity to take a look at his arm. His tattoo had not disappeared. In fact, it was starting to get more visible. Although now, it was just a plain old tattoo, nothing like the vibrant yellow that colored it before. But Jeremy could live with this. He could live with being just friend for a while. He knew he’d have to work to get it back to its original color but this time, he was going to do it right.

Jeremy squeezed his friend in his grip even more. He lifted his head high. He had been given a second chance, and he will gladly take it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! Sorry for the failed smut. Hope you liked it ;)

**Author's Note:**

> *Bienvenue dans la famille = Welcome in the family.  
> 


End file.
